San Francisco-based doom/post-metal group SLEEPBOMB is set to unveil their new single “The Basement Is The Safest Place” as they open pre-orders for their forthcoming LP, The Sleeping Dead, due out January 24, 2025.
Known for pairing heavy soundscapes with thematic film scores, SLEEPBOMB brings this track as the next piece in their atmospheric and darkly cinematic discography.
“The Basement Is The Safest Place” builds on the unsettling atmosphere established by their previous release, “Cemetery Song.” Claire Hamard, SLEEPBOMB’s vocalist and synth player, describes the track as a “rising apocalypse that never ends,” capturing an atmosphere that is both perpetual and escalating.
“There’s a beginning but no end to this piece, it keeps escalating. The lamenting vocals and classical organ bring a tragic aspect that matches the film’s dramatic violence,” Hamard reflects, hinting at the song’s layered intensity. Drawing from themes of entrapment and inescapable doom, the single relies on haunting guitar tones and an intensifying bassline to match the building tension, with Claire’s vocals echoing a sense of inevitable descent. “The huis clos is invaded,” she explains further. “The brother eats the sister, the daughter eats the mother, in short, humanity is lost. Perhaps one of my favorite tracks on the album for its melodic richness.”
Tim Gotch, SLEEPBOMB’s bassist and additional synth player, offers insight into the album’s conception.
Unlike their previous full-score approach, Gotch clarifies that The Sleeping Dead deviates due to rights limitations. “Unlike The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, we knew that the final product would not be a fully synchronized score due to rights issues and the large amount of dialogue in the film,” Gotch explains. This creative constraint led SLEEPBOMB to distill the music into a more song-oriented format, focusing on the emotional tone of each scene rather than strict timing alignment.
The LP The Sleeping Dead was recorded, mixed, and mastered at Earhammer Studios under Greg Wilkinson, known for his work with HIGH ON FIRE and AUTOPSY.
Wilkinson’s influence brings a raw, focused sound that underscores SLEEPBOMB’s signature style, which interweaves heavy, drone-influenced doom metal with cinematic arrangements. Slated for release through Koolarrow Records in North America and Consouling Sounds for EU/ROW, the album exemplifies the band’s dedication to recontextualizing filmic experiences through sound.
